Present simple
You will learn to:
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Use verbs to describe a frequent or true action.
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I wake-up at 9:00am.​
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They go to bed.
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Cows eat grass.
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​
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Use 'time adverbials' to add detail.
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At 6:00am...
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At 1:00pm...
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Use 'frequency adverbials' to add detail.
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Every Tuesday
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Every weekend
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​​​
+TIME CHUNK
+FREQUENCY CHUNK
We are going to construct sentences in the present tense. We will start by learning the most important verbs.
The present simple is used to describe something:
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that is true now
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I am tall.
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My name is Tony.
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She is 29-years-old.
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I live in Paris.
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which happens with a regularity
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Every day I wake-up at 6:00am.
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She always gets-up at 6:30am.
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They sometimes go to bed at 10:00pm.
NOTE: Always and sometimes are modal verbs and used to describe frequency
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which is always true
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Cows eat grass.
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Boats go on the water.
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Babies drink milk.
Present simple - Positive
To form a sentence in the present simple use the following structure:
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Subject + present tense form
A simple sentence is:
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Jane wakes-up.
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This does not tell us much. We can add information (when):
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Jane wakes-up at 6:00am.
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and more information (frequency):
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Every day Jane wakes-up at 6:00am.
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and now our sentence has much more detail.
Vocabulary - Frequency
Vocabulary - Time
Present Simple Examples
Every Monday
I
get-up
at 6:00am.
Every Monday I get-up at 6:00am.
Every Friday
Jane
goes to bed
at 12:00am.
Every Friday Jane goes to bed at 12:00am.
Present Simple Exercises
Answer
Every weekday
Billy
wakes-up
Answer
at 7:00am.
Answer
Every weekday Billy wakes-up at 7:00am.
Answer
Every day
Kate
gets-up
Answer
at 8:00am.
Answer
Every day Kate gets-up at 8:00am.
Answer
Every weekend
Jane
goes to bed
Answer
at 10:00pm.
Answer
Every weekend Jane goes to bed at 10:00pm.
Answer
Every Friday
I
go to bed
Answer
at midnight.
Answer
Every Friday I go to bed at midnight.
Present Simple Examples - Negative
To form a sentence in the present simple negative use the following structure:
​
Subject + do / does not + present tense form
A simple sentence is:
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Jane does not wake-up.
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This does not tell us when or what time this is. We can include one:
​
Jane does not wake-up at 6:00am.
​
Or both:
​
Every Tuesday Jane does not wake-up at 6:00am.
​
and now our sentence has much more detail.
Present Simple Exercises - Negative
New York
Portland
France
Africa
What are the subjects for each picture?
Answer
He
Answer
They
Answer
She
Answer
Elephants
Answer
They
Positive
Negative
Subject + verb + in + place
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He lives in New York.
Subject + do / does not + verb + in + place
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He does not live in London.
Subject + verb + in + place
​
They live in Portland.
Subject + do / does not + verb + in + place
​
They do not live in Los Angeles.
Answer
She lives in France.
Answer
She does not live in Italy.
Answer
They live in Africa.
Answer
They do not live in America.
Present simple - Questions (?)
To form simple questions asking about verbs you need to use the verb 'do / does'.
Subject
'Do' verb
I
Do
he
Does
she
Does
it
Does
they
Do
Do
we
you
Do
The question form is:
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Do / Does + subject + present tense form...
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Do they get-up...
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Does he live...
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Do you go to bed...
Present Simple Exercises
The question form is:
​
Do / Does + subject + present tense form...
Do you live in France?
Yes, I do.
Do you live in London?
No, I don't. I live in New York.
Yes, we do.
Do you live in Portland?
Do you get-up at 9:00am every Sunday?
No, I get-up at 8:00am.
Do you wake-up at 6:00am every Saturday?
Answer
No, I wake-up at 9:00am.
Do you get-up at 6:30am every Tuesday?
Answer
Yes, I do.
Do you go to bed at 9:30pm every Wednesday?
Answer
No, I go to bed at 10:30pm.
Make it natural
The natural way to ask these questions is using 'questions words'. These are 'what', 'where', 'when', 'why', 'who' and 'how'. We will study these later but it is important to know how to make present simple questions.
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